I'm going to begin private lessons this fall. Anyone have a suggested investment charge? I was going to do $12/half hour until some said that was too much. I'm still in highschool and have a moderate ammount of experience teaching, should i take this into consideration when charging? AND- Anyone interested in taking lessons with me? If you live in the Minneapolis, Mn. metro-area, e-mail me for schedule and appointment.

In texas, the most common rate for an teacher still in high school is $9 a half hour. For someone in college, $10.50. And for someone with any level of music degree, $13. Of course, for someone with a doctorate, they can usually teach outside of a particular district and charge their own price.
Another consideration is what the general income of the area in which you are teaching. Some school districts only let teachers charge $8.50 per half hour becaus ehtye are in financially challenged areas. Another district i teach in starts at $12 (homes there start in the $110's up to $2 millions).

I am an adult teacher but I do not have a degree in music so I only charge my students $8.00 per half hour. Having said this I am the cheapest teacher in town but the others are more qualified than me so it seems a fair charge to me. I do earn more doing my day job but music teachers are scarce in my town so I like to think of it as a bit of a community service.

I am senior your in high school and used to charge my students $5 for half an hour. I now give the lessons for free because I like to help and as a senior it is suggested that I do a service project. College kids in the area only charge $10 per half hour so $12 might be a little expensive.

our area is running from $6-10.00 for piano, sax, clar, flute...this is with h/s students, college students, and professionals....there are prob more exspencive, but not much. most doing private lessons are covered up, have to wait to get an opening.

There's a wide range in prices if you look at the US. In my area private lessons (any instrument) from a teacher (college/pro) run from $15 to $20 / half hour. A high school teacher can ask & get $10/$12 per half hour right now

In my area the lessons are typically taught by degreed and highly experienced retired pros who either played for decades with bands or with a professional large city orchestra for just as much time.

The average to low price of lessons is $15 per half hour. I expect that the price will go up to $20 per half hour (for experienced pro lessons) in the near future. Less experienced but degreed tutorials will probably stay at $15 per half hour. Non degreed lessons will probably stay around $10 per half hour, or less.

With all of the growth in my area and all of the kids here, I think I'm in the wrong business. Even the cheap lessons would keep me in reeds for a while.

$12 for a half hour! Wow none of you live in the north east I see. College students around here usually charge at least $20 a half hour. Players with a degree are $30 and up for a half hour. Professionals are usually around $50 and above. I wish I had grown up in a place like that.

The going rate for a half hour in Westchester County, NY for ANY orchestral instrument is $25.00 to #30.00 per half hour. This the rate for professionals and school teachers who majored on the instrument they teach.......and their students usually come to the teacher's studio. The top pros in the city get from $100 to 300 per HOUR, though most are in the $100-$200 range.

arh wrote:
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for someone teaching who is still in high school, i think charging $12 a half-hour is too much. i get paid that much and i'm almost done with my masters. no offense.
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No offense - but it depends on where you live! Near my home a master's student from U of Mich can easily charge $18/30 min.

arh, you are selling yourself very cheaply!! Was your education free also? I don't care where you live - you should be at least $15 if you are completing your masters. Do the Psychologists in your area only charge $30-35 hr?? - I doubt it.

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arh wrote:
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for someone teaching who is still in high school, i think charging $12 a half-hour is too much. i get paid that much and i'm almost done with my masters. no offense.

I live in an expensive area (Main Line , Phila. PA). My High school students who teach charge $8 first year of experience, and $10 thereafter. They are the best in the area for their level. (must be for me to ok them teaching, as well as get along well, and express themselves well) Unless you are in NYC, don't go over $10 - there are people with degrees that probably aren't a whole lot more. Just a thought.

Assuming this issue is still a live one, how about a parent's perspective? Hope this is helpful.

I live in the Pittsburgh area. My son, who has just started fourth grade, has been taking piano lessons for almost two years. His teacher, who has a master's in music and also teaches violin, charges $15 per half-hour. I think that is the going rate around here for "mainstream" music teachers, i.e., professionals with music degrees who are not well-known performers or faculty members at the university music schools (which feature musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony and the like). Based on what other professionals charge for their services, I think $15 per 30 min. is rather low, but that's what the market has set. I suppose teachers have to be careful not to price out a large portion of potential students, and of course the arts are traditionally underfunded and underappreciated in our culture.

My son may or may not start on a band instrument this year. If he did, I'd expect to pay the standard rate for lessons. Personally, I would prefer not to hire a high school student because of uncertainty about the person's ability, experience, and maturity. I probably could give my son beginning clarinet or sax lessons as well as the typical high school student could. I'm sure there are some high school students of extraordinary ability and maturity who teach, but I'd have no idea how to identify them. If I didn't play clarinet myself and absolutely could not afford the going rate for a professional teacher, I suppose I might try to find a high school student, but I doubt that I'd pay more than $5 or $6 per half-hour.

College students are a different story. The typical college music major has passed a rigorous audition and has received, or is in the process of receiving, pro-caliber instruction on instrumental performance, music theory, and probably music education. I'd consider such a student a legitimate "apprentice" teacher and would pay one around $7.50 to $10.00 per half-hour, i.e., one-half to two-thirds the professional rate.

My clarinet teacher-who is in the process of getting her masters, just raised her rates to $10 per hal-hour this year. I have been taking lessons for three years now, with the first year only costing $7, the second $8, and this year at $10. In my opinion, this is cheap for the quality of teacher that I have. She is still studying with a college professor, and I know that he charges more than she does, and he has told me that I am lucky to have such a good teacher and at such a low price.

In response to Joe Ramirez:
Yes, I am a high school student but I study ( 2years) with a respected college professor of the university of my state. I have also undertaken many high-pressure auditions for orchestral chairs and have been placed first or principle in nearly all. If I have the experience and am being taught by a teacher of the same caliber of a college student, shouldn't I be considered at somewhat the same level? ( This is my senior year)Therefore, should I be given the privillage to charge for lessons as much as a college student would??

I think $12 is too much for a high school student to charge. $8 sounds about right. I *do* live in the Northeast, and rates vary from professionals (high $$$), to studio/teachers with B.S. or thereabouts charging $15-20 per half hour, and college students charging $10-12. You don't have a degree yet. If you are going to charge that much, you really have to have something like that (qualification-wise, experience, etc.) to offer the parents of the students. They are paying for your expertise, and you have never taught yet!

You might want to check around, call local music studios and find out what they pay their 1st year teachers. Then take minimum 1/3 off of that. Also, depending on the area where you live, you'll find that if you charge less, you might get a few more kids, as well.

Generally some one who has not yet built a reputation (and this is true in any field) will not receive the level of payment that experience people will get. In a sense, it doesn't matter how good you are at this point because people don't *know* how good you are. You could be the greatest teacher since Daniel Bonade but until you have proven yourself, people will not pay the price.

Becky asked: "Therefore, should I be given the privillage to charge for lessons as much as a college student would??"

Pricing is not a question of privilege, but of market forces. Do not treat the price you are able to charge as an indicator of your inherent worth or future prospects as a musician. It is impossible for the consumer (i.e., a parent, like me) to evaluate teaching candidates without sorting them into some type of hierarchy. I simply stated mine: 1. symphony pros/master teachers (probably too expensive for a beginner); 2. seasoned pros with music degrees (probably the best bet); 3. college music majors (an alternative for someone shopping for a lower price); 4. high school students (last resort). I believe my perspective is shared by many.

The person I studied with my last year in high school was ay the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music getting her PhD (I think she's got 1 year to go) and I was charged $20 an hour!
Or $12 a half hour.
There were a few undergrad. college people at the same music store giving lessons for $9 a half hour and $16 for an hour.
And I just started giving lessons (I'm a soph. in college) and I'm charging $8.00 for half an hour and $15 for an hour. I'm getting a lot of students, because when you think of how many lessons the parents are paying for..a dollar makes a difference!!!
Maybe you should ask you band director or ever your own lesson teacher.